


Through the Fire and Flames

by TheNerdyTurtle96



Series: The Only Enemy I Can’t Live Without [2]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Non-Canon Siblings, Season Two and Four, Xisuma the dadmin, backstory angst, fire tw, no graphic descriptions, not a songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27838702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdyTurtle96/pseuds/TheNerdyTurtle96
Summary: xB had the perfect life exactly where he was and nothing he wanted to change. Too bad fate had other ideas.
Relationships: Mentioned romantic relationship between two minor original characters
Series: The Only Enemy I Can’t Live Without [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914049
Comments: 11
Kudos: 21





	Through the Fire and Flames

**Author's Note:**

> As you can perhaps tell from the title, this isn’t going to be a happy, fluffy bedtime story. Time for xB backstory angst! (Please don’t murder me… I made it hurt/comfort, okay?) 
> 
> Also, I love giving hermits non-canon siblings for plot reasons and also because siblings are really good for backstories and such. Thus, on Ao3, my oneshots with non-canon siblings are going into a series called “The Only Enemy I Can’t Live Without”. On Wattpad, they’ll just be floating in oneshot book space.
> 
> I will also say that I hate the first few paragraphs, but have no idea how to fix them.

In a gorgeous house, on a large acreage, in a world far away, there lived a family. The two parents were happily married and very well-off. The two children were wonderful, kind, and smart. It was truly a model family, and Brady Walker was glad to be a part of it. Every day, he completed his school work in a timely fashion, as he was homeschooled, then he had plenty of options for how to entertain himself. He could go play on the back lawns with the dog, drive around the perimeter of their property in a four-wheeler, take a hike in the woods, or tend to his personal gardens. Sometimes he would get to visit a friend in town or drive over to a neighbor’s house. 

This particular week was especially wonderful as Brady’s older sister was visiting. She was 18 and had already earned a teaching degree from university. A few months ago, she had gotten married to an amazing woman and the couple had been busy setting up their new home. Now, Brenna had come back to visit and the whole family was excited to see her and her wife again. Brady and his father had loved the opportunity to cook up large meals and his mother had spent many hours catching up with Brenna and Josi. 

It was the third night of their visit and everyone was in bed, as it was almost midnight. Brenna and Josi took a guest bedroom and Brady was just down the hall in his normal room. It was neat and tidy, but it still felt very cozy and comfortable. A cool breeze drifted in from the open window and quietly ruffled the blinds. Slowly, Brady drifted off to sleep, preparing for another full day tomorrow. 

_ BWEEP _

__ Brady shot up out of bed and rubbed his eyes. It was still dark outside and his bedside clock read 2:34 AM. Why had he woken up?

_ BWEEP _

__ Ah, that was it. Grumbling to himself, Brady tried to figure out what the alarm was from. He suddenly realized what it was as a numb horror spread through his body.

_ BWEEP _

__

__ The air was filled with smoke, causing Brady to cough and wheeze for a few moments. His instincts started kicking in and he got low to the ground and lightly touched the door knob. The handle was not too hot, so he carefully opened the door and peeked his head out into the hallway. That was a mistake.

_ BWEEP _

__ Smoke was everywhere and the fire was raging at the end of the hallway, blocking his exit downstairs. Brady closed the door and crawled back into his room, pausing for a few moments to cough. Just as he was turning towards the open window, the door slammed open and Brenna scrambled inside. 

_ BWEEP _

__ “Brady? Are you okay?” Her tone was quite panicked at the sight of Brady laying on the floor.

“I’m good,” he wheezed.

“You need to get out!” Brenna wasn’t quite screaming, but it was an order.

“I’m working on that,” Brady answered.

“Here, I’ll help you with the mattress,” she offered.

“That’d be good.” 

Quickly, the two siblings worked to lift up the mattress from Brady’s bed and throw it out the window. It landed on the ground below with a thud and suddenly he felt slightly better about having to jump 10 feet from the second floor. He turned to Brenna to give her one last smile, but she stopped him.

_ BWEEP _

__ She pressed an object into his hand and looking down at it, his eyes widened.

“Take my communicator,” Brenna insisted. “If you need to leave the world, this will let you go anywhere you need.”

“Brenna, you need it!” Brady protested.

“No, you need it more. Don’t worry about me.” Brady tried to say more but she cut him off.

“I love you, little bro. Now go!”

Hesitantly, Brady climbed through the window and braced himself for the impact of falling. The sensation of free falling was odd, but quickly over as he crash-landed onto the mattress. He took a quick second to make sure that nothing was broken before scrambling to his feet and running away from the house. Once he was out to the road, Brady finally dared to turn around and look back.

His jaw dropped at the sight of his home being devoured by the flames. There was nothing that anyone could do about it. The fire department was too far away and the fire was too large. 

After a few moments, his heart sunk as he realized that no one else was outside. He had no idea if his family was dead or alive, but there was nothing he could do about it. That was the worst part. The only thing that he had was Brenna’s communicator and the jacket and sweatpants he was wearing. 

It was still horribly early in the morning and the combination of shock and the wearing off of his fight or flight instincts was threatening to make him pass out. That’s why Brady didn’t really notice that the communicator had been displaying the world-hopping screen for several minutes and a few slips of his finger suddenly blinded him with a flash of light. The sensory overload was the last straw and Brady simply passed out.

—————

**< xBCrafted joined the world>**

**< falsesymmetry>** Yay!

**< MumboJumbo>** Finally!

**< joehillssays>** I see that our guest of honor has arrived

**< xisumavoid>** I’m a little tied up at the moment, so can you three greet xBCrafted?

**< falsesymmetry>** yep

**< MumboJumbo>** np

**< joehillssays>** It would be my pleasure

**< falsesymmetry>** lol Joe this isn’t a chickfila

—————

“What kind of a name is xBCrafted?” False wondered out loud to Mumbo, who was walking with her to the world spawn of Hermitcraft season 2. 

“I don’t know,” the engineer answered. “I mean, you, I, Joe, and Xisuma all use our real names, but I know others don’t.”

“That’s true,” False admitted.

“What I really want to know is how they came up with it.”

“Yeah, that’s a pretty unique one,” she agreed. “Do you suppose that xB is their actual first name and Crafted is their last name?”

“Perhaps,” Mumbo responded.

“What if xB stands for some- oh my goodness!” False was in the middle of her sentence when her attention drifted to where they had arrived at world spawn. A person was lying, unmoving, on the ground and she rushed over to them. Thankfully, they were alive, as their pulse was fairly strong.

“Are they okay?” Mumbo questioned.

“I think it’s their first time traveling worlds and the shock of it knocked them out. They’re alive and nothing’s bleeding,” she replied.

“What is bleeding?” A new voice called out and both hermits instantly recognized it.

“Oh, hello Joe!” Mumbo offered up a small smile.

“Nothing’s bleeding, but this person is unconscious,” False explained. Moving around a bit, she gently lifted up the person’s hand and glanced at the communicator grasped in it. “Well, the inscription says xBCrafted, so I think this is our new hermit.”

“They’re pretty small,” Mumbo blurted.

“We can’t all be giants with big mustaches, Mr. Jumbo,” False retorted.

“I shall add that to my list of comebacks and insults,” Joe exclaimed. “That is a very good one.”

“Are we going to wait for them to wake up or are you going to do it yourself?” Mumbo seemed to have regained a bit of his dignity, but his tone was still rather shy.

“Well, it looks like they’re starting to stir,” she responded.

The three hermits knelt down and gathered around the person as they slowly began moving again. After a few moments, a deep blue eye flickered open and False met their cautious gaze.

“Hello, xBCrafted!” She tried to sound as cheery and non-threatening as possible, though the person still bristled at her voice.

“Huh?” The small noise squeaked itself out of the person.

“Rough landing, eh?” False gave a warm and empathetic smile, which seemed to calm the person a bit.

“Yeah…”

“Can we just call you xB?” Mumbo quietly asked.

“Um, sure,” xB casually responded.

“Welcome to Hermitcraft, xB!” Joe grinned and xB weakly reciprocated.

“Thanks.”

“Here, you probably need a bit of rest. We can take you to the admin and you two can hang out for a bit while you get settled. Does that sound okay?” Mumbo was about to make a snarky comment about False’s mother-y voice, but a brief glare from her cut his words short.

“I, I can do that,” xB breathed.

False pulled out her communicator and started tapping out a message on her screen.

**< falsesymmetry>** Hey X? 

**< xisumavoid>** Just leaving now

**< falsesymmetry>** Found xB, they were unconscious, just woke up

**< falsesymmetry> ** Should we walk them to your place?

**< xisumavoid>** i’ll teleport in to you

**< falsesymmetry>** ty

A couple of seconds later, Xisuma appeared pretty much out of thin air and quickly knelt down next to False.

“Hello, xB,” the admin warmly greeted.

“Who are you?” xB seemed very tired and out of it.

“I’m Xisuma, the admin. Nice to meet you!” Xisuma extended his hand to xB, who carefully shook it.

“What am I supposed to do here?”

“Well, we’re actually probably going to be moving to a new world soon, so until that happens, you can meet the other people here,” the admin answered.

“So who are all of you?” xB vaguely gestured at the other three hermits.

“I’m False Symmetry.”

“Mumbo Jumbo.”

“Mr. Joe Hills, at your service.” The poet slightly bowed and False playfully rolled her eyes at the gesture.

“Do you want to come back with me and just get used to this world for a few days?” Xisuma asked.

“Sure,” xB replied.

—————

xB had picked the wrong day to go out into the world and leave his isolated house. In his almost three years on Hermitcraft, he had never celebrated his birthday, which many of the more socially inclined hermits found odd. When asked, he would shrug and say that he didn’t really care about birthdays and generally people would drop the subject there. However, Ren and Iskall had refused to let his 21st birthday go unnoticed and while xB was out for the day, the two had set up his base for a massive party.

By the time he had arrived at the scene, almost all of the hermits were already in the full swing of things. The two mischievous organizers were embroiled in a drinking contest with Doc and a giddy Tango was whirling around the room, Impulse following close behind to make sure his friend didn’t do anything too stupid. False, who was one of the few not drinking, informed him that this was Ren and Iskall’s doing and it was supposed to be a surprise. xB nodded and glanced at the door longingly.

“Do you want a drink?” False asked.

“Not really,” xB admitted. “I don’t even want to be here.”

“I can understand that,” she replied, gazing out at the raging party in front of them. “Well, I think Ren and Iskall are ~ _ this~ _ close to blackout drunk, so they won’t remember if you were even here.”

“Are you saying that I can leave?” She gave the younger hermit a small grin and winked.

“I’m not saying that you can’t.”

“The only problem is that I’m already home,” xB shook his head sadly. “This is going to be such a mess to clean up.”

“Yeah,” False sighed. “I don't think Xisuma is here, so you could ask if you could sleep over at his base for the night.”

“I think I’ll do that. Thanks, False.”

“See ya, xB.”

xB looked around to make sure no one was watching him before slipping out the back door. Once outside, he could finally take in a breath of fresh air and relax a bit. Closing his eyes, he leaned against the house and slid down so that he was sitting on the ground.

“Hello.”

The voice startled him and xB whipped his head around, trying to find who it belonged to. A figure soon stepped out of the shadows and xB relaxed at the sight of Xisuma.

“Oh, hey X.”

“Not enjoying the party?” The admin slowly sat down next to xB and carefully removed his helmet.

“No. It’s too loud and I didn’t want a party in the first place,” he explained.

“I see.” Xisuma lightly drummed his fingers on the top of his helmet. “I stopped by just to see how it was going, but I wasn’t going to stay. Drinking isn’t my thing.”

“I don’t want to, either,” xB confessed.

“That’s fine. As you’ve probably seen, alcohol does strange things to a person.”

“Yeah…” His voice trailed off as memories of Ren and Iskall attempting to talk to him earlier that night resurfaced. “Why did they plan a party for me if I never wanted one?”

“I don’t really know,” the admin sighed. “Say, if you don’t mind my asking, why don’t you want birthday parties?”

xB thought about that for a moment. He knew exactly why, but he wasn’t sure if he should reveal it to Xisuma. The admin would be understanding, though, right? Finally, he concluded that it was probably safe and took in a deep breath.

“Well, first of all, it’s not even my birthday.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, my birthday is in seven months.”

“Oh man, I can’t believe I got that so wrong. Sorry about that.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m assuming that you found it using a database search on ‘xBCrafted’?”

“Yes. They’re usually accurate, so I don’t know why this one was so wrong,” Xisuma mused.

“It was actually right, because,” xB took a deep breath. “Well, I’m not actually xBCrafted.”

“What?” The admin was evidently confused. “But that’s what your communicator says.”

“It’s my sister’s,” he slowly answered. “About three years ago, she was visiting my family with her wife and there was a fire. She helped me get out and gave me her communicator. I didn’t want to take it, but she insisted on it. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but I ended up world hopping to Hermitcraft and I passed out en route. It took me a day to get my bearings again and I  _ was _ planning on returning to my homeworld. Unfortunately, I glanced at the news the morning I was going to leave... and no one survived.” xB’s voice was very quiet and tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.

“The fire moved too fast and they found all the bodies but me, who they also assumed to be dead. I knew I couldn’t go back, so I pretended like I belonged here. You never invited me; it was my sister that you were supposed to have. Today would have been her 21st birthday, but I’m barely 16. I’m not supposed to be here,” he whimpered. Tears streaked down his face as Xisuma leaned over and wrapped xB up in a reassuring hug. 

“Oh xB, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. 

“I probably can’t stay here anymore,” xB quietly cried. “I’m sorry for pretending this whole time. I understand if you want me to leave.”

“No,” Xisuma replied. “Of course I want you to stay. You are a valuable member of this community and I’m not going to make you go.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Xisuma confirmed.

“I- thank you so much,” xB gratefully replied.

“I’m sorry if this is too much, but what does xB mean?”

“Her name was Brenna Crafted after she got married and when she registered for a new name, she and her wife, Josi, got matching ones. It’s supposed to mean ‘love, Brenna’ and I keep it to remember her.” xB wiped his face with the back of his hand and tried to regain some of his composure. “She was an amazing sister and person and I still miss her like crazy.”

“She sounds like an amazing person to me,” Xisuma warmly answered. “Do you want us to keep calling you xB?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“That’s good to know,” the admin nodded. “If you want to talk about her to someone, I’m always happy to listen.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me,” xB sniffled.

“You mean so much to this community and don’t you forget that.”

In that moment, xB swore that he could see Brenna smiling at him and saying, “I love you, little bro.”


End file.
